PIA Press ReleaseTuesday, January 31, 2012

CamSur town, Minalabac inaugurates birthing facility

NAGA CITY, Camarines Sur, Jan. 30 (PIA) -- There will be fewer mortality rates among pregnant and birthing mothers because of the care a government gives to its constituents. A new birthing facility was recently inaugurated in Minalabac town, graced by Health Undersecretary Teodoro J. Herbosa that has all the modern equipment to assist pregnant and mothers. This is in an addition to two existing birthing centers earlier initiated by Minalabac Mayor Leovegildo Gil Basmayor.

Basmayor, seeing the need for a facility that would ensure the safety of the mother and her child, sought the assistance of private entities to help him build an edifice which will contain a complete set of birthing equipment. This was realized last year when Zuellig, Philippines donated two birthing centers located in the coastal barangay of Salingogon and Hobo.

On January 27, another modern and well-equipped birthing facility was added to serve the maternal needs of its female constituents. The inauguration of the Naybalay building was spearheaded this time by another private entity - Pfizer Foundation, a pharmaceutical company that encourages patients to make a conscious choice to live a healthy and better life.

Herbosa congratulated the local government unit of Minalabac and the efforts exerted by Mayor Basmayor to come up with the ideal health facility that would cater to the health needs of his constituents.

“This is the perfect example of public-private partnership being pushed by President Benigno Aquino. We need institutions like them whose thinking is aligned with the programs of the government. This is so far, the best and most modern birthing facility all over the country that should serve as model for other communities to emulate,” Herbosa said in his speech.

Aside from the main birthing facilities, the local government of Minalabac has also spearheaded the creation of alternate birthing centers located at various barangay health stations. Four of them are in place at Barangays Malitbog, Antioplo, Tariric, and in Manapao in 2011.

Dr. Renabeth Vera of Minalabac Health Station, upon instruction from Basmayor has established a pregnancy monitoring board to collate important data vital for the monitoring of their health situations. Their list contains the total number of pregnant women in the municipality and their expected date of deliveries, number of normal and complicated pregnancies, and the number of expectant mother within a particular month.

This was also backed up by a local ordinance which was supported by the majority of the Sangguniang Bayan members. The ordinance specifically prohibits birth delivery with the help of a komadrona or local midwife and specifically orders that no delivery shall be done at home.

This continuing effort is also aligned with our country’s commitment to the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) which is to improve maternal health and reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015 the maternal mortality ratio. MDG consists of eight (8) international development goals that 193 United Nations member states, including the Philippines and other international organizations have agreed to attain by 2015. (MAL/LSM-PIA Camarines Sur)